A cruise ship affected by COVID has docked in Sydney with more than 100 crew and positive passengers on board.
The Coral Princess ship arrived at Circular Quay’s overseas passenger terminal shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday. Passengers wishing to disembark in Sydney will be required to take a rapid negative antigen test and will be advised to wear masks while off the ship.
The Coral Princess arrived at Circular Quay just before sunrise Wednesday morning. Credit: Peter Rae
The ship currently has 114 positive crew for COVID-19 on board and four positive passengers since it left Brisbane on Sunday. There are a total of 2300 people on board.
In a statement updated Wednesday, a Princess Cruises spokesman said the cruise line predicted the stop in Sydney would be “a similar success” to its stop in Eden, on the south coast of the state.
“Guests reported that they had received a warm welcome from the Eden community, where companies were looking forward to the return of the cruises to boost the recovery of their tourism economy,” the statement said.
“Our focus has now been on Coral Princess’ scheduled call to Sydney today, which we anticipate will be similarly successful. Our priority is always the health, safety and well-being of our crew, guests and communities that visit “.
With passengers still waiting to disembark around 7 a.m., a man told the Nine’s Today program from his balcony that he could not “wait to get off” the ship.
The ship will then head to Brisbane, where it will remain after a one-day stop in the port city.